Wednesday, February 5, 2014

[Herpetology • 2014] A Preliminary Report on the Distribution of Lizards in Qatar


 Photos of lizard species inventoried in Qatar
(Author: Valdeón A, except for Diplometopon zarudnyi (Yamaguchi N)).
doi: 10.3897/zookeys.373.5994

Abstract
We have updated the list of the lizard species present in Qatar and produced the first distribution maps based on two field surveys in 2012 and 2013. We used the QND95/Qatar National Grid with a grid of 10 × 10 km squares for mapping. Our results show the occurrence of 21 lizard species in Qatar, from the 15 species indicated in the last biodiversity report conducted in 2004. The most abundant family found in Qatar is Gekkonidae with nine species (Bunopus tuberculatus, Cyrtopodion scabrum, Hemidactylus robustus, H. flaviviridis, H. persicus, Stenodactylus arabicus, S. slevini, S. doriae, Pseudoceramodactylus khobarensis), followed by Lacertidae with four species (Acanthodactylus schmidti, A. opheodurus, Mesalina brevirostris, M. adramitana), Agamidae with three species (Trapelus flavimaculatus, Uromastyx aegyptia, Phrynocephalus arabicus), Scincidae with two species (Scincus mitranus, Trachylepis septemtaeniata), and Varanidae (Varanus griseus), Sphaerodactylidae (Pristurus rupestris) and Trogonophiidae (Diplometopon zarudnyi) with one species each. The species richness fluctuated largely across Qatar between one and eleven species per grid square. We believe that the lizard fauna records in Qatar are still incomplete and that additional studies are required. However, our study here fills a gap concerning lizard biodiversity knowledge in the Gulf Region.

Keywords: Reptilia, geographic distribution, species richness, inventory, maps, biodiversity, atlas

Sphaerodactylidae (Pristurus rupestris) Gekkonidae (Stenodactylus arabicus, S. slevini, S. doriae, Pseudoceramodactylus khobarensis, Bunopus tuberculatus)

Gekkonidae (Cyrtopodion scabrum, Hemidactylus persicus, H. robustus, H. flaviviridis)
Scincidae (Scincus mitranus, Trachylepis septemtaeniata)

 Lacertidae (Mesalina brevirostris, M. adramitana, Acanthodactylus schmidti, A. opheodurus)
Varanidae (Varanus griseus), and Agamidae (Uromastyx aegyptia, Phrynocephalus arabicus, Trapelus flavimaculatus)


Dan Cogălniceanu, Aurora M Castilla, Aitor Valdeón, Alberto Gosá, Noora Al-Jaidah, Ali Alkuwary, Essam O. H. Saifelnasr, Paloma Mas-Peinado, Renee Richer and Ahmad Amer Mohd Al-Hemaidi. 2014. A Preliminary Report on the Distribution of Lizards in Qatar. ZooKeys. 373: 67–91. doi: dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.373.5994